Jeremy Renner Doubles Down On Calling Black Widow “A Slut” On ‘Conan’

A few weeks ago, Jeremy Renner and Chris Evans got into a little bit of hot water when they jokingly called Black Widow “a slut” during an interview promoting The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The comments drew immediate criticism from fans, and both Evans and Renner issued hasty apologies for their off-color jests. All’s well that ends well, right? Well, Renner decided to address the comments on last night’s Conan, and let’s just say he doesn’t sound all that contrite for any offense he might have caused. In fact, he doubled down on his assertion that Black Widow is “a slut.”

He told Conan O’Brien:

“I was asked a question, ‘You know, Black Widow’s been linked to Hawkeye, Iron Man, Bruce Banner, Captain America… What do you think about that?’ Well I said, ‘Sounds like she’s a slut.’ Now, mind you, I was talking about a fictional character and fictional behavior, but Conan, if you slept with four of the six Avengers — no matter how much fun you had — you’d be a slut.”

Renner’s comments provide new insight into his own takes on sexual mores, but it also highlights one of the inherent problems with having one token female on an otherwise all male superhero team. If Black Widow is been the only female on the team, then she is the only Avenger that the other five can be linked with in a heterosexual tryst.

Whether you agree with Renner or not, it’s an undeniably touchy time for Black Widow fans. Many fans and critics were upset with how Joss Whedon treated the character in the latest film. Whedon gave the Scarlett Johansson character a speech where she suggests that she’s “a monster” because she’s been rendered infertile. Some people are even suggesting that the fan blow back on this is what drove Whedon to flee twitter after the film came out.

Of course, Renner could have been being sarcastic about the whole thing. After all, he was on a late night comedy show. You can watch the full interview clip below to judge his comments for yourself: